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Monday, 3 June 2013

IAF to get BrahMos by year-end

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which can travel three times faster than sound, is expected to be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by end of 2013, said A Sivathanui Pillai, chief executive officer and managing director of BrahMos Aerospace, in his address at Vellore on the occasion of the 22nd convocation day of Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology on Sunday.

“Two Su-30MKI aircraft will be equipped with the missiles, which will enable them to hit targets on the ground accurately,” Pillai said. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, said Pillai, who is also the chief controller (research and development), Defence Research and Development Organisation.

“Today, the Indian Army is the only army in the world to possess the supersonic cruise missile,” informed Pillai, adding,“In the next stage, we will be developing hypersonic cruise Mach 7 missiles. This is expected to be completed in five years.”

“We have received enquiries from several friendly countries and Russia has agreed to supply it to other countries. He said ISRO could be launching its Mars mission by November this year. He said the technology developed by DRDO has several civil applications. One of them is the fiberglass technology which can be used to produce light weight callipers for those suffering from polio and cerebral palsy and find it difficult to walk.